Coaching Q and A- Direction

Q: I Have counseled People for the past nine years, I am a preacher and I have encountered problems that have made me stop preaching for a while, I have to take care of my home (Marriage) before i can take care of others. But my question is I have back problems and I am a maintenance man for a local news paper company, I own four houses of my own, and my back is not getting better I have to find something that is not so strenuous on my back, I am seriously thinking of going to school but I am wondering what I would do at 44 I am young enough to do something and be succesful at it but with my back ground as a counselor would you recommend Life coaching or something different? I can sell things also, I am a people person I love talking to others, I was thinking of something in marketing but with our economy the way it is I am kind of stuck in a rut here. I am open for suggestions

A: I first want to acknowledge you for the willingness to ask the question and for being open about what is going on. I am sorry to hear about the back issues and the pain that you are going through. Taking care of your health (mind, body, soul) is very important, I really encourage you to give yourself a little extra TLC when it comes to these things as it sets the foundation for other areas in your life.

There are a few questions here, a few different layers. So lets look at them one layer at a time.

It sounds like to me that you are seeking a long-term change and not something to just get you out of where you are career wise. It also sounds you are dealing with doubt and overwhelm.

You say you are 44 and are you young enough to go back to school and do something and be successful at it. First, I think that as long as we are still breathing it’s never too late to try to go for what we are called to do and if for you part of the involves you going back to school then I think it’s never too late. You also mention in that about being successful, I encourage you to look at how YOU define success as opposed to how society judges it. What does success look and feel like to you? I think education is a wonderful thing, I really do I love learning, but I also think there are those times where we are looking for it to be the answer or the validation. I just encourage you to really look at that (and of course some of it would depend on what field you decide to go into) But on the flip side I really encourage you to look at if you are letting a dream of going back to school stop you because you feel it’s “too late” in some ways.

You mention several different kinds of possible careers, I get the sense that you really want to go into something not as a fast fix to get you out of where you are but to find something that fills you up. I can’t tell you what one to pick out of all of those. I will however suggest and highly encourage you to explore with an open mind your different options. Choose 1 of the 3 or so you mention and start exploring it. You are simply in research mode. My suggestion is to pick the one you feel the most excited about. Even ask someone you know and trust to talk out some of those options with you and to watch your body language when do you seem the most animated? When do you light up? Those are signs that you are on the right track! While you are in this research mode remember at this point it’s about gathering and noticing what gets you pumped up! Don’t allow yourself to start the negative what if’s and allow defeat before you really get started.

As far as the part in your question about being stuck in a rut, my response would actually be similar to the one above. Allow yourself to explore a bit, read something different then you usually do, try something new , allow yourself to be open and explore. Oftentimes even if we do that in an area in our life that is seemingly unrelated to the area of “issue” we find it opens us up in other areas!

I hope this helps, please feel free to send me any follow-up questions that you have.

Thanks for stopping by Coaching Q & A you can find out more about my coaching here and more about this series here. Do you have a question for the coaching Q & A? Ask me here, in the comments below or email me hstoliveinspired @ gmail.com